Have Your Candidate in Artsakh, Good for You, But Don’t Spread Dirty Information About the Other Candidate - Babayan's Office

Samvel Babayan's office has responded to comments regarding the shooting at his supporters, specifically from the Investigative Committee. It is noteworthy that the Investigative Committee denied the information that the armed incident that occurred on the Sevan-Martuni-Getap highway related to Samvel Babayan on May 29 was politically motivated. In this regard, Samvel Babayan's office stated in a press release:

“The circumstances, the statement from the investigative committee, and the information publications from media outlets aligned in such a way that for us it remained obscure. Now, a group of about 50 supporters of Samvel Babayan pursued a vehicle over kilometers, and it was recorded by cameras in at least four locations, then opened fire on Babayan's supporters over issues of financial or domestic nature, or on the level of the mayor's son from Martakert, who was not in the vehicle. What does the pre-investigation body mean when they say, at the level of a 'Haykakan Jamanak' journalist, that there is a second version related to the mayor's son? In other words, if the mayor's son were in the vehicle, would the use of weapons be justified, or which law are you going to assert that those people specifically came for the mayor's son? What kind of version is this, gentlemen law enforcement, is it from the realm of fairy tales, or are we witnessing another circus performance? Please orient yourselves so we can orient ourselves as well.

A group of 50 people is pursuing a man who is not in the pursued vehicle and opens fire in that direction; one of the participants in the shooting, a certain Arakelian Armen, calls Moscow and brags that at that moment they are shooting at Samvel Babayan's guys' vehicle; do you consider this non-political persecution? Gentlemen, what is happening, is this unprofessional behavior, or has nothing changed, we are still playing your side-our side? You arrest two people, put a name on it, saying the circle is clear, while at least fifty people participated in this crime; by the way, at least four were village heads. We know exactly who they were, in what car. We don’t want to say much thinking that we are maintaining confidentiality until the investigation is completed, yet you are already issuing assessments before it's even finished. Has anything changed in our country regarding this?

Is this how we are building a rule of law? Unfortunately, with this we are only heading to destruction and will never see that white light. The Investigative Committee should also state that there have been confrontations and that Babayan's two supporters did not know the people shooting at them, especially that they had issues with them either financially or domestically. We reiterate that Samvel Babayan, along with his supporters Armen Mejlumyan and Aram Hovakimyan, who were in the pursued vehicle, have never had any relation with the other side, whether it be financial or domestic in nature.

It is also not surprising for us that this information is mostly provided by those media outlets that, every time they wake up, send Robert Kocharyan to Artsakh to run against Samvel Babayan, and at other times they send Kocharyan to Artsakh to support Babayan. It is shameful, low, and dishonorable what you do. You have your candidate in Artsakh, that’s great; may it be halal for you, but that never means that you should spread baseless, low, and dirty information about the other candidate. We will pursue this matter to the end until a political assessment of this case is established.

We will resort to all legal means to uncover the truth and reality. We are never inclined to wish to see someone punished or to take revenge; we are not saying to hang the participants in the crime, but we call for correct assessments, to prosecute the guilty by the force of law, so that the people can also ensure that the old habits are now in the past and there is no more impunity. If not, we will witness their recurrence and new developments. This is an organized gang operating in the regions of Martakert and Karvachar, and we are ready to present evidence of how terrorized the population is and how afraid they are to speak out.